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Johnson, WHS out to make more school history

TRINITY — When a team reaches the state championship game, people assume it is senior-laden.

The Wheatmore High School volleyball team has proved that theory wrong. The Warriors have just two seniors — outside hitter Kathryn Johnson and setter Kelly Davis. This afternoon, the duo will lead their teammates against Hendersonville (25-5) in the NCHSAA 2-A championship game at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, hoping to give the young school its first-ever state title in any sport.

For Johnson, the past four years have been a labor of love. She started playing volleyball in sixth grade, but once she reached high school, she worked even harder.

“Right before my freshman year, I started going to Hepler Strength and Conditioning in Thomasville,” she said. “I’ve been going there four days a week every week since my freshman year. I’m always in the gym. I like to work out, though; it’s fun for me. It’s been a big contributor to how I’m able to play now.”

Not everyone is born 6-feet tall with a 40-inch vertical leap. Johnson, who stands at 5-10, can now almost touch the 10-foot basketball rim.

“She’s the hardest worker I’ve ever coached,” Wheatmore coach Rodney Kirby said. “She won’t leave the gym on a bad swing. Once she has a good swing, she’ll do three or four more until she’s where she needs to be.

“Fundamentally, she’s a textbook hitter. You look at how she takes a three- to four-step approach — it took a lot of work to get there.”

The results have shown up not only in Wheatmore’s 27-1 record and appearance in the postseason every year Johnson has played, but also in the stats column. Currently, Johnson has 380 kills on the

season and 931 career kills, and she’s currently one of the top three 2-A players in the state (the other two are teammates Georgia Garrison and Davey Albertson). She holds the season and career kills records at Wheatmore.

“She’s hitting .554 percent, which means she gets 10 swings and five are going to hit the floor,” Kirby said. “She’s put in the work and deserves every accolade. It hasn’t come easy. When she came to us, she was a 5-8 outside hitter. She started as a freshman, but she earned the job.”

Like many perfectionists, Johnson’s biggest critic is in the mirror. It makes her a top athlete, but also has been known to get in her way.

“It’s something I’ve really worked on this year,” she said. “I’m too hard on myself. This year, I’ve been able to work on the rough patches.”

“Kathryn’s a totally different hitter this year,” Kirby said. “You have to have a short-term memory as a hitter. It’s such a fast-paced game, it’ll come right back at you. When you’re a senior, your teammates can’t see you drop your head. This year, Kathryn’s taking a bad swing and wanting the next one.”

Today, the senior, along with classmate Davis, will try to put up the first banner in Wheatmore’s gym, prompting the school to have a pep rally on Tuesday before the semifinal — the first pep rally for a sport other than football. The volleyball fever has hit middle schoolers, too, who can be seen bumping balls around after the Warriors’ matches.

“It’s really special,” Johnson said. “Everyone’s really bought into it. They’re realizing how big it is. People have been really supportive, telling us congratulations in the hallway.”

To raise that banner, the Warriors will have to beat the team that not only won the 1-A title last year, but also beat the defending 2-A champion to reach Saturday’s final. Hendersonville is making its 13th appearance in the finals.

“From what I can tell, they’re a lot like us,” Kirby said. “Both sides of the net and the middles can hit. We haven’t run into a whole lot of that. Everybody on the team can attack and that reminds us of us. By what I see and what I’ve heard, it’s going to be a battle. It’ll come down to whoever makes the least amount of mistakes. The one thing they have on us is that they were there last year.”

“They’re in the West and the South Granville coach said the East bracket was a bit better,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to be an easy game, but I definitely think we can do it.

“Kelly and I were talking about it last night. I don’t know if either of us knows how we got here. It’s an amazing opportunity. It hasn’t sunk in; I doubt it will until we play tomorrow. It’s a surreal feeling — something we’ve worked really hard for. Our high school careers are coming to a close, but we’re happy it’s ending on such a positive note.”